The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

I apologize for the error…. We put in the new Areca Palms and rocks by our entrance signs on Saturday JUNE 23 (not July 23). Funny - that date is a Monday morning, and most of us certainly wouldn't be out planting trees on a Monday morning. Especially me! Ha Ha :) Thanks to Dawn Steele, Tisha Farrington, Debbie Marks from the county and my husband, Eric, for helping out. Thanks also to Judy Johnson, Mark Blumenthal, and all others who would have been there if they'd known the correct date ! Here's a few more reminders… JULY 28 (and this date is correct!) 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. "DUMPSTER DAY" County is providing the huge dumpsters for ease of disposing of larger items. Exact location of dumpsters to be announced. *Citizen's Patrol: We can now patrol with just one trained person instead of 2 in the vehicle, but still need more volunteers . Please call George Morgan @ 377-4437 if you would like to be placed on the list and if you can attend th...

The blog is back - after a two-week break - apologies to those who left comments that only appeared today - please do use the comments, but be aware that they are moderated - meaning, they must be approved before they will appear.* Next time we'll be more dutiful about advising you when we are away. (*For our purposes, all comments will be posted unless they are 1) obscene, 2) spam, or 3) entirely irrelevant to the interests of the residents of Lake Sarasota).

We still have a few vintage first-edition Lake Sarasota T's left and will bring them to the monthly meeting , Tuesday, June 12, Sarasota Baptist , at 7 p.m. They are $15 each. Proceeds will go towards landscaping and upkeep of entrances, including continued replacement of the flag. The picture on back of shirt is from a Sunshine Gardens ski show in the 50's, when Lake Sarasota was Sunshine Gardens. A bit of the unique history of our community that few people know about. The front has our entrance sign logo. We extend a sincere Thanks to Mickey Schweitzer for purchasing the T-Shirts as a donation toward our efforts.

VOLUNTEERS and INPUT NEEDED!!! We are putting together a schedule for keeping the trash picked up in the medians and need more residents to help us. Please call or email Laura Mathis : 379-0465. We are also looking at placing 'DO NOT LITTER' signs in the first median on Mauna Loa, which seems to be a prime location for people to dump their trash when sitting at the light. See picture (below - click to enlarge) of small sign which we are proposing to place two - one on each side of entrance median. If you are interested in more information and would like to voice your input, please attend the meeting on Tuesday. We have been discussing this issue for about 9 months and would like to take action.

From Laura Mathis: Thank you to the neighbor and avid runner who posted the comment regarding the cars on sidewalks and unleashed dogs. This has been a continuous concern in this and many other communities. We have found that the best way to handle this is to first speak directly ( in a friendly manner :) to the neighbors regarding their vehicles or dogs. I was pleasantly surprised how easy this was on my own street just to kindly ask my neighbor to move their camper so it was not blocking the sidewalk when my son was first learning to ride his bike. Of course, this doesn't work all the time. In some cases it is necessary to contact the county. Keep in mind that Lake Sarasota Community Group is not an Association and is not going after neighbors for "violations." This can only be done on an individual basis and is recommended that we get to know our neighbors first and try to resolve issues in a friendly manner before 'reporting' them. Bu...

If you've got ideas or just strong feelings about what sort of landscaping, trees, foliage would do nicely in the Mauna Loa median, the next general meeting will be your moment to speak out. The community has a limited amount of grant money from the county to devote to beautification of the medians, and there will be an open discussion of what will look good, be easy to maintain, and difficult to kill. Be there: Sarasota Baptist , Hand Rd. and Proctor, 7 p.m. June 12.